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Dreamgirls (2006)

tomatometer

78

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 200
Fresh: 156 | Rotten: 44

Dreamgirls' simple characters and plot hardly detract from the movie's real feats: the electrifying performances and the dazzling musical numbers.

87

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 45
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 6

Dreamgirls' simple characters and plot hardly detract from the movie's real feats: the electrifying performances and the dazzling musical numbers.

audience

73

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 363,710

My Rating

Movie Info

Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyoncé Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the

PG-13, 2 hr. 10 min.

Drama, Horror, Musical & Performing Arts

Bill Condon

May 1, 2007

$103.3M

Dreamworks

Cast

All Critics (201) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (164) | Rotten (44) | DVD (34)

It compares to that other "legitimate" musical smash of recent vintage, Chicago. It just doesn't have the life or fun of Chicago.

May 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Watching Dreamgirls on the big screen feels like an event somehow. Maybe it's the conviction and passion that the actors bring to their roles.

January 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Slate | Comment
Slate
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Dreamgirls is the entire musical package, a triumph of old school on-screen glamour, and we wouldn't want it any other way.

January 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
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Elegiac, filthy-minded, unsparing, and as deeply moving as you'd expect from any de facto story of Peter O'Toole's life.

January 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
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It's a product that promises magic, and yet gives us nothing to live on.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...An uneven success.

December 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Condon's adaptation is polished and enjoyable and yet something is missing from making it a truly great musical movie--perhaps a more coherent vision or unity.

January 6, 2010 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

A musical for people who've forgotten how to listen, and how to feel

August 28, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

A tight and entertaining musical with a show stealing performance by Jennifer Hudson.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

Broadway Beyoncé = big, boomy musical fun.

July 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

While not exactly the ultimate 'showstopper edition' that its title states, it will satisfy the fans' desire for substantial supplements and even have the film's detractors looking forward to any future release.

August 19, 2007 Comment
TheMovieReport.com

Dreamgirls opened on Xmas day and it was every much of a brilliant holiday movie. I guess the only complaint I have is it is too slick.

July 22, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Magazine International | Comment
Movie Magazine International

There's a joy on screen -- a love for the material that's palpable and contagious -- but the material, in the end, lets them down.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment
Big Picture Big Sound

...Hudson offers up a seriously underwhelming performance...

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comments (2)
Reel Film Reviews

Worse than a movie of the weak (pun intended)

May 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

This bright, bold musical is, for all its moment-to-moment energy and excitement, ultimately curiously unmoving.

May 3, 2007 Full Review Source: MSN.com | Comment
MSN.com

Jennifer Hudson's coming out party!

April 28, 2007 Full Review Source: EURWeb | Comment
EURWeb

If you enjoyed movies like Mahogany, Ray, or Walk The Line, then Dreamgirls is an absolute must-see.

April 24, 2007 Comment
Buzzine Magazine
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Dreamgirls

A beautifully well made film, with great performances, and proves Eddie Murphy is a good actor.

March 2, 2011
DreamExtractor
Brad Wright

Super Reviewer

A very good film. A bit overrated in my opinion becuase 8 Academy Award nominations is very generous. However this film delivers on all levels. Great performances all around, emotion, brilliant cinematography, fantastic music....it's good. The music is definitely the highlight of the film for me though, particularly

November 9, 2010
jamers2011
Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

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